


Fledglings

by carcinoGentleman



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Adult Trolls, Alternate Universe, Awkward Sexual Situations, Caliginous Romance | Kismesis, F/F, F/M, Female Homosexuality, Flushed Romance | Matesprits, Growing Up, Hate Sex, Heterosexuality, M/M, Male Homosexuality, Multi, Pale Romance | Moirallegiance, Sadstuck, Sexual Content, Slice of Life, Sober Gamzee, Terrenia
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2011-12-31
Updated: 2012-07-01
Packaged: 2017-10-28 14:41:16
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 8
Words: 11,967
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/308956
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carcinoGentleman/pseuds/carcinoGentleman
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An AU in which SGRUB never happened, the trolls lived their lives as they would have. Gamzee Makara is 8 sweeps old and is about to leave Alternia along with all the others. Join them on their journey to the adult-troll planet Terrenia.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preparations

**Author's Note:**

> *This is pretty much the first fanfiction I've ever written. The first chapter is short, and pretty much just sets things up. I really hope you guys like this, any comments or suggestions are welcome. PS: If I've made any dumb typos along the way feel free to tell me, a lot of the time I do my writing very late at night and I don't always catch them. Thanks!

At 8 sweeps old, Gamzee Makara had known for quite some time this day was going to come. He just never expected it to arrive so soon. He stared at the inner walls of his recuperacoon, his head just poking out of the sopor slime enough for him to be able to breathe. He had spent the last season sorting through and getting rid of old and useless possessions that would just burden him on the journey. There were a few things he held onto, such as his favourite horns and clubs. The majority of the items he was keeping were articles of clothing. His husktop was also another thing he wouldn't let go of. He would need it to keep in touch with some of the other trolls. Slowly, he dragged his lanky body out of the slime and headed to his ablution trap for the last time. He stood there, gazing tepidly at the tiled walls. His weary eyes scanned each tile tenderly as he bent down to turn the tap on. It was a little awkward with his increased height, but he managed. Hot liquid poured onto his sopor covered skin, rinsing it away to the depths of the Alternian sea beside his hive. Lost in his thoughts, he unintentionally stayed in the water's warming embrace for too long. If he wasn't careful he would miss the ship and be left behind.

After changing into a clean pair of his old polka-dotted pants (which were now two sizes too small in length) and a long-sleeved shirt with his symbol embroidered on the left side of his chest. He would put his shoes on later, before he left for good.

“Shit, I'd better be checking who's all on Trollian before it's too fucking late.” He muttered to himself, and opened his husktop. Karkat, Equius, Tavros, and Vriska were online. He decided to troll his palemate first, seeing as he would be on a different ship than himself.

terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling carcinoGeneticist [CG]

TC: hey bro :o)  
TC: ARE YOU MOTHERFUCKING READY FOR THE JOURNEY OF A LIFETIME?  
TC: got all your transportation sacks packed and shit  
CG: OH HI GAMZEE.  
CG: YEAH I HAVE ALL MY SHIT TOGETHER. I'M MORE CONCERNED ABOUT YOUR CLOWN ASS THOUGH. DO YOU HAVE ALL YOUR CRAP?  
CG: IS IT JUST A BIG FUCKING PILE OF HORNS AND SCARY CLOWN POSTERS? OR IS THERE SOMETHING LEGITIMATELY VALUABLE THAT YOU'RE TAKING WITH YOU.  
CG: BESIDES YOUR HUSKTOP.  
TC: HONK :o)  
TC: you know i got rid of most of my old stuff from when we were grubs.  
TC: YOU DONT HAVE TO FUCKING WORRY BROTHER  
TC: i got everything under control.  
TC: WHEN ARE YOU LEAVING FOR THE STATION?  
CG: ABOUT HALF AN HOUR.  
CG: I WANT TO SPEND SOME TIME WITH TEREZI BEFORE WE LEAVE.  
CG: FUCKING BLOOD CASTE SEPERATING MATESPRITS.  
CG: THEY SHOULD MAKE AN EXCEPTION FOR THAT.  
TC: calm down brother,  
TC: IT WILL ONLY TAKE TWELVE NIGHTS TO GET THERE.  
TC: and once we all get to terrenia you can have all the sloppy makeouts you need :o)  
CG: SHUT THE FUCK UP.  
CG: THATS EMBARRASSING OKAY?  
CG: WHAT ABOUT YOU? ARE YOU GOING TO DO A FUCKING NOSEDIVE INTO THE FLUSHED QUADRANT YET?  
CG: JEGUS KRIST YOU HAVEN'T EVEN TOLD HIM YET HAVE YOU.

Gamzee paused. It was true he didn't tell the troll he was flushed for that he had feelings for him yet. He just didn't know how to say it. He was afraid he would get rejected, and things would become strained between them.

TC: I JUST DONT KNOW HOW TO GO ABOUT THAT YET.  
TC: what if he doesn't feel the same :o(  
CG: GAMZEE YOURE A FUCKING IDIOT FOR THINKING THAT WAY.  
CG: AND YOU KNOW YOULL NEVER FIND OUT IF YOU DONT JUST SAY IT.  
CG: ANYWAYS IM GOING TO GO TO TEREZIS HIVE NOW. SEE YOU AT THE STATION.

carcinoGeneticist [CG] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]

Karkat was always so abrupt with his actions when he was nervous. Gamzee hoped that they could have a good feelings jam when they got settled on Terrenia. He decided that now would be a good time to troll the one he was flushed for. Another one of his good friends who at one point was a good candidate for becoming his moirail. He was a little relieved Karkat beat him to the punch though, or else he might have never developed feelings for him. His palms became clammy as he went to click his flush-crush's Trollian handle.

terminallyCapricious [TC] began trolling adiosToreador [AT]

TC: hey tavbro :o)  
AT: hI gAMZEE, HOW ARE YOU?  
TC: PRETTY FUCKING SCARED MAN.  
TC: i have all my stuff together but i can't help thinking i'm forgetting some things.  
AT: yOU CHECKED EVERYWHERE AROUND YOUR HIVE? }:)  
AT: tHAT'S, uHH WHAT I'D DO IF i FELT LIKE THAT,  
TC: I THINK IT'S BECAUSE I'VE GOTTEN RID OF SO MANY THINGS.  
TC: i had to throw away my one wheel device because i don't have enough room for it. :o(  
AT: }:o(  
AT: tHAT'S REALLY TOO BAD gAMZEE, YOU ALMOST GOT THE HANG OF IT TOO.  
AT: dO YOU, uHH, wANT A NEW ONE AFTER WE GET TO tERRENIA?  
AT: i CAN GET YOU ONE FOR YOUR WRIGGLING DAY, }:o)  
TC: YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT FOR ME TAV.  
TC: but if you really want to i won't stop a motherfucker from getting his gift on.  
TC: I WOULD TREASURE IT FOREVER.  
TC: :oD  
AT: uHH, oKAY, yEAH.

“Shit. I hope that didn't fucking weird him out or anything. Fuck.” Gamzee swore under his breath and nervously waited for Tavros to finish typing. Tavros was always so nice to Gamzee no matter what he did or said. There had been a time in the past when things were more complicated. When he was first quitting sopor pies for good he went through a drastic mood change. Gamzee would talk to Tavros in alarming tones, with underlying malicious intent. The other troll could see that something was wrong and eventually got through to Gamzee. He would stay up all day and night comforting him through quitting the drug he was so addicted to. This was when he almost became Gamzee's moirail. Unknowingly on Tavros's part, Karkat was also there for Gamzee, but in a way Tavros was not. During a particularly cold 12th Perigee's eve, Gamzee had begun an alarming transformation of the downright nasty sort. He had begun murdering younger low-blooded trolls in the name of the Mirthful Messiahs, in a serial stupor of cold blood and sopor craving rage. Now killing other trolls was a normal part of Alternian society. Survival of the fittest basically, and Gamzee felt this an opportune time to assert his position in the Caste system. However, the day he showed up in front of Karkat's hive with a rust-blood covered club was when he felt he had to stop it. After a few hours of shooshing and papping, Vantas managed to calm the subjugglator down and proceeded to have one of trollkind's best feelings jams. Gamzee had never told Tavros about killing the two young rust-blooded trolls. He hoped he would never have to.

AT: sO, wILL i BE SEEING YOU AT THE STATION gAMZEE?  
AT: iT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE i'VE SEEN YOU FACE TO FACE.  
TC: yeah i'll search all the crowds for you.  
TC: IT HAS BEEN A LONG TIME.  
TC: about three seasons.  
TC: I HAVE TO SAY THAT I MISS YOU BRO.  
AT: i,,

“Fuck I did it again. Karkat's right I am a fucking idiot.” He seethed at himself. He was so afraid of driving Tavros away, and the thought of screwing up with him was tearing him apart.

AT: wELL, i,,  
AT: i REALLY MISS YOU TOO.  
AT: oH gAMZEE LOOK AT THE TIME!  
AT: wE SHOULD REALLY GET GOING NOW }:o)  
AT: iLL SEE YOU SOON!

adiosToreador [AT] ceased trolling terminallyCapricious [TC]

“...He misses me too.” Gamzee felt the corners of his mouth raise into an embarrassed smile. He decided to send the two blue bloods a message before he shut off his husktop stating a place where they could meet up before their ship left. At least he would have the company of some trolls he got along with decently on the twelve night journey to Terrenia. The tall indigo blood packed his husktop away in his transportation sack, picked it up and walked out of his hive. He felt a rush go through his body from head to toe; he was leaving his grubhood home for good. He placed his bag down gently before running to the ocean's edge. He ran in his bare feet, not bothering to put his shoes on yet, and with many splashes, was standing knee-deep in the water.

“Dad! I'm leaving! Dad!?” Gamzee shouted as loud as he could. He was hoping his lusus would be there tonight of all nights. He stood in the cold seawater for a good six minutes, staring out in hope that he would see those long white horns break the water's surface. He could feel his face growing hot, and liquid starting to form in front of his eyes. In frustration he picked up a large stone and tossed it as hard as he could into the sea in front of him. He decided it would be best to leave his lusus a note written in the sand. Gamzee turned away from the water and bent over, writing his letter with a small stick in the sand. Once he finished, he got up and walked away, not looking back for a second.

“Dad, I know you weren't always there for me... and I really wish I could have seen you one last time before I left for good, but it's too late now. There isn't much room on this beach so I'll make this quick. I love you. I know you love me too even though you were so motherfucking distant all these sweeps. I hope that I can come back someday when I'm a fully grown adult... I hope you'll be proud of me then. I love you... - Gamzee.”


	2. Departure

Karkat had been waiting at the station for his moirail for a good ten minutes. What was taking Gamzee so long? He started getting anxious about whether he would end up missing the shuttle or not.

“Karkat.. He's going to show up okay? You can stop pacing back and forth.” Terezi soothed her worrisome matesprit, walking up to him to grab his hand. He looked at her shining crimson glasses, then returned his gaze to the ground beneath him. Over the past few sweeps his relationship with Terezi had become a lot stronger. Terezi could easily tell when something was bothering Karkat, (more so than usual) and had become pretty good at helping him calm down. Right now wasn't one of those moments. He continued to pace, forcing Terezi to walk back and forth with him while she held his hand. She didn't mind so much as she had a lot of pent up energy.

“You don't have to fucking pace around with me you know. I get that you want me to calm down but shit Terezi, what if he seriously doe-”

Just as Karkat began to spew his frustrations, Gamzee had sneaked up behind him and squeezed his sides.

“Seems like you need to motherfucking chill brother. What's got you all stressed out?” The Capricorn smiled at his moirail, analyzing his face which was contorted in surprise.

“You idiot! It's your fault I'm freaking out so much right now I, I thought you weren't going to make it okay?” Karkat was practically yelling at him.

“I... I was waiting to see if my lusus would come to say goodbye to me. He didn't show so I had to write him a note. Sorry Karkat.” He spoke to Karkat in a sullen tone. His moirail placed a hand on his shoulder and calmly smiled back at him. Just then a loud announcement began to play over the station's intercom system.

“Attention everybody. There are five minutes left until Caste sorting, please make sure your transportation sacks are all accounted for and at the appropriate baggage areas. Repeat, five minutes left. Thank you.”

“Hey. Don't worry about it Gamzee, I'm sure you'll see your dad again someday.” Karkat reassured him. He then caught glimpse of two trolls running in their direction. One stumbling slightly on the way over. Both of them were carrying their bags over their shoulders. They slowed their pace as they got closer to Terezi, Karkat and Gamzee. Suddenly a pair of arms wrapped around Gamzee's torso. He felt a rush of warmth and excitement rush through his body. He recognized the sweet scent of the troll behind him. Tavros.

“Gamzee! I thought I might have been too late! I uh, oh-” Tavros released his friend so he could turn to face him. The taller indigo blood examined the man that stood before him. It looked like his robotic legs had undergone a tune-up since they had last seen each other. He could only see them from the knee down, Tavros was wearing a pair of long black shorts over top of them. He looked back up to his face, which was flushed with his chocolate-brown blood. He had the widest smile on his face, he was staring into Gamzee's eyes. He felt his body melt at the sight.

“Tavbro I just got here myself!” He laughed. Karkat greeted the other troll who was with Tavros, Sollux. Karkat had punched him in the shoulder and called him a “Dipshit nooksniffer” for being so late. Terezi laughed at her matesprit and his friend, who continued to playfully hit each other and eventually settled down.

“So Gamzee... uh, I was thinking...” Tavros smiled nervously and continued. “When we get to Terrenia, do you want to share a hive with me?”

He couldn't believe the words that had just come out of that adorable troll's mouth.

“Fuck Tav are you serious?” Gamzee could barely contain his excitement. The troll he was flushed for just asked him if he wanted to be hivemates.

“Well yeah Gamzee I'd uh never joke around with this sort of thing with you! I mean Sollux already picked out a great looking community hive for us to live in. If we split our payments three ways it'll be a lot more affordable!” Tavros spoke with great enthusiasm. He was obviously very excited about getting to live on Terrenia. Sollux would be living with them too though. Gamzee felt a bit disheartened about that, but it was better than not living with him at all.

“Well shit bro looks like I'm going to have to buddy up with Sollux more often, get to know that bumblebee motherfucker a bit better!” Gamzee laughed, and Tavros continued to look up into his eyes. Gog he just wanted to kiss him. Maybe living together would bring them closer, like Karkat and Terezi. He bit his lower lip, resisting the urge to just lean over and plant one on him, suddenly and unexpectedly. He could feel his face heating up, blood rushing to his head in lust and frustration. He had begun to zone out and hadn't realized Tavros had reached out and touched his arm.

“I'm so glad you want to Gamzee. I uh... it means a lot to me.” Tavros looked away for a moment, a darker brown blush gracing his cheeks. Gamzee stared in confusion. Blissful confusion. The brown-blood swiftly walked up to him and embraced him once more. While Gamzee was zoning out, the intercom had went off again, stating it was time to go to his Caste's ship. He brought his arms around Tavros and held him close, taking in his every scent, feeling the soft fabric of his button-up overcoat. He tried to keep his hands from feeling around his body. He desperately wanted to run his fingers through his hair and along his long, shining horns. He had to bite his lip again as to not go along with his impulses. He noticed from behind Tavros, Sollux had been holding someone close to him as well- with an angrier expression on his face. He was with Eridan Ampora, who was about seven inches taller than Sollux. He seemed to be teasing him, playfully nipping at his pointed ears, and his neck. Finally the two kissed rather furiously, and walked away from each other. Sollux waltzed over to where Gamzee and Tavros stood and tapped the Taurus on the shoulder.

“Come on Tav, we gotta go to our ship. See you on Terrenia, Gamzee.” Sollux's lisp was still apparent in his speech, but it wasn't as bad as it had been when they were younger. Gamzee reluctantly let go of Tavros and waved farewell.

“Catch you on the other side hive-bees!” Gamzee grinned. He proceeded to say goodbye to all his lower blooded friends, and headed to the Highblood ship. Standing before the docks were Eridan, Equius, Feferi and Vriska. Gamzee looked up at Eridan, he was a few inches taller than him as well. He waggled his eyebrows at him and nudged him in the side.

“So my fishy motherfucker, you and Sollux huh?” The indigo-blood giggled, much to Eridan's dismay. He merely nodded, embarrassed and a little annoyed at being called 'fishy'. They could see their transportation sacks being loaded into the ship's cargo bay. The trolls would later be given a card-key to their rooms; access to their bags would be permitted after the first few hours after take-off.

“W-why are you so interested if I'm w-with Captor now-w anyw-ways?” Eridan scoffed, looking away from the troll he was talking to.

“Well fuck because I'm going to be living with him and Tav.” Gamzee retorted. Eridan seemed surprised at this information. Equius cleared his throat nervously, and Vriska chuckled at the Seadweller. Feferi had already boarded the ship and was waiting for them inside.

“Excuse me, grand highblood, seadweller, but I believe it should be about time we got on the ship as well. I'm sorry if my interjection is interrupting anything important.” Equius insisted, and received a nod from Gamzee as an answer. The blue-blood smiled awkwardly and began to walk up the ramp. The others followed and met up with Feferi inside. The inside was grandly decorated, immediately to their left was a lounging area with room for about 50 trolls to relax.

“Now this is the way to travel!” Vriska exclaimed happily. She had been waiting for this day for the past sweep. She was tired of messing around with all the grubs on Alternia. She wanted a real challenge, there was going to be a ton of fresh meat to toy with on Terrenia. Eridan shrugged his shoulders.

“It's not that great V-vris. I'v-ve seen better.” He expressed, with lack of interest in his surroundings. Gamzee felt like a human kid in a human candy store, whatever that was. He was on a high energy rush. He was giddy, fidgety, and couldn't get the damned image of Tavros's sweet smiling face out of his head. His palms were sweaty, he kept wiping them on his clothes but it just wouldn't stop. He pitied Tavros so hard. And now there was the possibility that Tavros pitied him back. He decided now would be a good time as any to get some information on Sollux off of Eridan, his matesprit.


	3. Journey

“Oh come on Eridan, just tell a motherfucking bro some simple information.”

“Gamzee I told you I don't flippin' feel like it. I'm exhausted and I w-wish I could just be w-with him right now-w. Maybe after w-we get settled in our block okay?”

Eridan was trying his best to be patient with Makara. He rubbed his temples and tried to relax himself in order to not snap at him. He was going to be his matesprit's hive-mate, and he didn't want Gamzee to go and tell Sollux about anything bad that might happen between himself and the indigo-blood. The Capricorn pouted and crossed his arms, but muttered a soft “okay” before walking away to talk to Equius. At least he would be left alone for a while. Eridan had grown substantially over the past few sweeps mentally and, especially physically. He shot up like a weed and was the tallest out of all his friends. His hair was considerably longer as well, he stopped spiking it up and instead wore it with his bangs parted to the left. He was too attached to his hipster glasses however to get rid of them. His fashion sense was a lot simpler now as well, discarding the cape, and wearing more subtle shades of purple. His old scarf had been replaced with one Sollux got him for his wriggling day, a yellow and black striped one. He told him to think of him while he wore it, so he wouldn't feel so sad when he was alone. He stroked the soft fabric the scarf was made of and closed his eyes, fondly regarding the sweet kisses they exchanged after the gift was given to him.

 

Karkat stood in line with Tavros, Sollux and Aradia. The four of them were waiting to get their room card-keys behind about sixty other trolls. Compared to the highblood ship, the decor was gaudy and a lot lower in quality. They didn't mind so much, as long as they got to Terrenia in one piece it didn't matter what the ship looked like.

“So TT did you tell him?”

“Yeah Sollux, he wants to live with us! He uh, he wants to become better friends with you too.”

“That's not what I was talking about, the other thing.”

“I uh, oh um... no.”

“Jegus Krist Tavros I thought since you were clinging to him so much you must have told him. It was the perfect opportunity, why didn't you tell him dumbass?”

“Well I, I was scared okay? It's uh, hard for me to even admit that sort of thing to another person, let alone the one I'm actua-”

“I'm sorry ladies, might I interrupt in this cat fight to ask what the fuck you're talking about?” Karkat had grown tired of listening to Sollux and Tavros banter pointlessly at each other.

“Spill the beans. All of them.”

“Well KK, my stupid moirail here has feelings for your stupid moirail. And he had the perfect chance to tell him he's flushed for him! He didn't do it though and it's bugging me to no end.”

“Wait, what? Tavros, you have flushed feelings for Gamzee?”

“Sollux! How could you tell him I uh okay. Fine Karkat, I-I do have flushed feelings for him.”

“Okay, okay don't go and fill a pail with your tears or anything. Sollux can I talk to you in 'private' for a bit?”

“Fine KK but how are we going to-”

“Just shut up and let's trade spots with the trolls behind us.” Karkat commanded, and Sollux followed behind him as he proposed “trades-ies” with the couple of maroon-bloods behind them.

“Sollux do you have any idea what this means?”

“What are you talking about KK?”

“Fuck, didn't you know Gamzee's been flushed for Tavros for sweeps? This is just fucking perfect. I mean it's so adorable I just want to expel all my bodily fluids into a load gaper.”

“Wait, he has? Jegus why don't you tell me these things ever? I mean TT hasn't had flushed feelings for Gamzee for too long, only about half a sweep. I know it's sickeningly cute but what are we going to do about it?”

“We could set them up or something. I don't fucking know.”

“Awh man KK just like in one of your shitty rom-com movies. That's just great.”

“Shut up! They aren't shitty and you know it. I thought you liked troll Adam Sandler!”

“That doesn't mean anything! But anyways Mr. Love Guru, how are we supposed to set them up if Gamzee isn't even on this ship?”

“You guys are going to be living together. Your stupidity amazes me sometimes Captor, you set me up like a bunch of fucking bludgeon ball pins and knock me over with a perfect fucking strike of mind-numbing dipshittery.” After Karkat's remark Sollux felt the need to flick him in the nose, prompting a loud “Ow!” from him.

“You're such a gentleman KK. Who knows maybe this will all fall together on it's own.”

Tavros stood ahead in the line and attempted small chat about Fiduspawn with Aradia. He wondered what Sollux and Karkat could possibly be talking about back there. His curiosity began to show on his face, and Aradia picked up on this.

“Tavros, don't worry about what they're talking about okay?” She said, patting his shoulder soothingly. He smiled shyly at her and nodded.

“I just didn't want Karkat to find out I uh... have flushed feelings for Gamzee. He's his moirail. What if he, if he tells him?”

“Don't worry about it.” She cooed softly, trying to calm the nerves of her gaming buddy.

 

Terezi lay on her back on a soft lounging chair inside her block. She thought about how Karkat was so unlucky to have to ride on the lowest class ship, but kind of chuckled at the thought of him being jealous of her. Nepeta and Kanaya were drawing little pictures of each other on the other side of the room.

“Oh Kanaya! You're making me look so cute~ Is my drawing of you okay?”

“Yes Nepeta, I have to say I like your depiction of myself. When we both finish colouring we should exchange the pictures to put up in our new hives.”

“I think that's a purrfectly good idea!”

“Hee hee Nepeta, even after two sweeps you're still doing the cat-puns. Can you even get any more adorable?” Terezi giggled, she loved listening to her friends goofing around. It made her feel relaxed, and happy.

“Aww Terezi I think I could be a lot more adorable if I tried. My 'cat-puns' have become a little less frequent though don't you think?

“Yeah, it's not every sentence anymore!” She laughed and rolled onto her side.

“Alright girls, I think it's about time we crawled into our recuperacoons and sleep. Morning is approaching fast and I want to be well rested.”

“What are you, our lusus now? Alright though, I suppose we could all use the sleep. It's going to be kind of weird from now on though, we just left our grubhood hives for good.”

“It's a strange, but exciting predicament. I'm quite looking forward to arriving on Terrenia.”

The girls all got changed out of their casual outfits, and into their sleepwear. Nepeta began to feel a little uneasy, so she slept with Kanaya that morning.

 

Gamzee woke up early in the evening. His head had been hurting and it was tempting him to eat a handful of the sopor inside his recuperacoon. He decided instead to get clean in the ablution trap. He peeled his slimy sleepwear off his somewhat muscular body and placed it in the corner of the trap to rinse off after he finished cleaning himself. He didn't notice however that Eridan was in the room, he had fallen asleep on the load gaper- for some odd reason he was sitting on top of its closed lid. The seadweller was wearing his sleepwear, and the scarf Sollux gave him. When Gamzee turned the taps on, it scared Eridan into being awake. He blinked several times in surprise and looked around. He saw behind the glass doors of the ablution trap was Gamzee's backside. He stared in embarrassment for a few minutes but forced himself to snap out of it. He tried to be as silent as possible getting out of the room, but failed miserably when he knocked over a complimentary cleaning solution pile. Gamzee turned around to see Eridan kneeling on the ground with a mess of bottles and cleaning solution in front of him. The Aquarius looked up at Gamzee... he saw everything.

“What the motherfuck do you think you're doing in here, fishface?”

“G-gamz I-”

“Get out.”

“I'm sor-”

“FUCKING GET OUT.”

Eridan didn't bother picking up the bottles, and scurried as fast as he could out of the room. When Gamzee was finished and dressed, he came out and found Eridan curled up on one of the sofas in their block. His face was flushed with a deep purple, he was clinging to the scarf that was wrapped around his body.

“Hey. I didn't mean to get all fucking nasty sounding at you Eridan.”

“W-well w-why did you?”

“It's kind of embarrassing to be seen naked by one of your friends.”

“How-w do you think I felt then huh? I didn't w-want to see you n-naked.”

“Why were you in there then?”

“I fell asleep in there okay?”

“Man you're a fucking weirdo. Since it's embarrassing, want to change the subject?”

“To w-what.”

“Sollux?”

“Oh... okay.”

Eridan reluctantly told Gamzee (almost) everything he knew about Sollux, and what he liked and disliked.

“If you w-want to liv-ve w-with him, you're going to hav-ve to giv-ve him enough personal space and alone time. Especially if you w-want him to be your friend.” Gamzee wrote down Eridan's words of advice and thanked him for it. He really hoped that their living situation would work out.

“I sw-wear to Gog though if you use w-what I'v-ve told you to hit on him I'll kill you.”

“Chill brother, I wouldn't do that. I already have flushed feelings for somebody else.”

“R-really? W-who?”

“It's a motherfucking secret.”


	4. Floating Through Space

“You know-w you don't hav-ve to get fuckin' smart w-with me landdw-weller.”

“I just don't feel comfortable saying it.”

“Come on Gamz, I just told you a thousand things about my matesprit.”

“You just walked in on me while I was getting my ablution on.”

“So w-what? I- oh nev-ver mind Gamz I'll shut up now-w.”

“Good.”

“Glub...”

 

By the third day of being on the ships, the trolls started to feel a bit stir-crazy. It seemed like there were so many things to do, but at the same time there was nothing to do at all. Tavros grew tired of playing Fiduspawn with Aradia and ended up braiding her long hair. She returned the favour, but the tiny braid in Tavros's hair came out a few seconds afterwards. Sollux had been trying to teach Karkat a few new virus codes, ones that could easily do a variety of hilarious things to another troll's husktop. Such as bring about an image of a cat lusus playing a ridiculously large key-based instrument. Karkat just couldn't get the hang of it, he was too stressed out and wanted to know how Terezi was doing. The ships however didn't permit wireless internet to be used (an incident that occurred four sweeps ago determined the fate of wireless devices that still transmitted information from Alternia, a terrible tragedy really).

“Karkat you give up too frigging easily you know.”

“I just don't feel like dealing with your bullshit useless codes right now.”

“What's eatin' you buddy?”

“Oh piss off nooksniffer.” It wasn't the easiest task to get Karkat to talk about what was bothering him. He might have been more open with Terezi, but there were some things he could only talk to moirail about. Sollux however, was not his moirail. He felt more like slapping the everlasting fuck out of him. So he then reached over and smacked him across the think-pan.

“Well fuck you too KK! The hell is your problem?”

“You! You're my problem you nosey little-”

“Guys could you cut that out?” The bickering men had forgotten Aradia and Tavros were still in the room. She had begun to grow tired of them snarling at each other like animals fighting over a carcass. Karkat however, really didn't want her getting in the middle of this. He just loathed him so much. ♠

“You want to take this outside KK?”

“...More than anything.”

Aradia looked up with a blank stare and realized what was going on. She put her hand in front of her mouth to cover the goofy smile that crawled across her face. Tavros blinked at her, he stifled a giggle himself, and watched his moirail walk out of the room, Karkat kicking him lightly as they left. His caliginous feelings seemed a lot more playful than a lot of other trolls in the black quadrant.

When they were out in the hallway Sollux turned around immediately and slapped Karkat across the face. It left a deep burning sensation that... that made him want more of it. He smirked at the yellow-blood, his eyes watering from the intense impact of the other man's palm. Jegus, he wanted to make Sollux scream.

“What the bloody fuck is wrong with you KK? You never lash out at me like this.”

“Maybe it's because we've been cooped up on this stupid ship for three days already, but I hate you more than I usually do.”

“Wait, you hate me?”

“Oops... Well, yeah. You piss me off more than that fucking seadweller does, and that's saying something. You try to be all 'la dee da helpful' with showing me those fucking codes and all it does is infuriate me more. Just seeing your mustard-tinged cheeks every day makes me want to fucki-” Sollux had grabbed onto the back of Karkat's head and dragged him closer to himself, giving him a hard, chaste kiss on the lips. Karkat reciprocated and kissed back harder than the other man had initially kissed him. They wrapped their arms around each other and clawed at their backs, each wanting to press a little harder than the other, struggling for dominance. A small group of brown-bloods encountered them in the hallway and tried to pass by without it being too awkward.

It was extremely awkward.

They broke away from their heated kiss, but continued to touch and scratch at each others backs, moving along to their chests. It was violent yet sweet, painful, but it faded into a warm buzzing feeling.

“What does this make us... Karkat?”

“I don't know yet. Sometimes I still feel bad about feeling this way about you, and I know I shouldn't because that's not how it works and-”

“It's because we're friends KK. Sure, I feel a caliginous connection with you but... we've been friends for such a long time, could we ever truly hate each other?”

“Are you willing to find out?”

Sollux looked at Karkat's face, the area where he slapped him was glowing a soft red. He didn't know how Karkat was going to continue to hide his blood colour. Through a few bitch-fights in the past, Sollux had broken Karkat's nose, and found out about it. He never told anybody about it though and took care of Karkat himself. He looked into his eyes, they were about the colour of Aradia's right now, so he could be easily mistaken for a rust-blood.

“I think I am.”

 

Terezi had awoken a lot earlier than Nepeta and Kanaya, who were still sleeping together inside Kanaya's recuperacoon. She didn't want to wake either of them, so she went on about her business. She decided to take a walk to the ship's nutriblock for some breakfast, maybe she'd bring some back in case they woke up. There was a delicious smelling cherry pie, and some bottles of various juices. She grabbed three slices of it and put some of the bottles in her shoulder-strap bag and went back to her room.

“Are you guys awake yet? Or do I have to put your breakfast inside the sopor?”

“Oh Terezi you came back~ I was pawndering as to where you might have went.”

“I just couldn't sleep anymore, hunger got the best of me.”

The girls sat around the short coffee table on the floor, Kanaya was still in the ablution trap, so they set her food aside for her. As Terezi tasted the sweet cherry filling of the pie, she couldn't help but think about her matesprit. She had started to miss his touch, the sweet and salty taste of his skin when she would lick him to embarrass him. The soft taste of cherry on his flushed- She was starting to think too much into it. She wondered what Karkat was doing, and hoped he wasn't getting too annoyed with the other trolls around him.

 

“Oh fuck...” Karkat murmured as Sollux bit his chest through his shirt. Things had begun to get a little too hot for the hallway, so they opened the door to their room once more and stepped inside. Tavros and Aradia were sitting on the floor eating some chips and chatting about their flush-crushes.

“Uh, we um... we need the room.”

Their two friends looked at them, Tavros gave an eyebrow waggle in their direction and got up. They took their bowl of chips with them to the door.

“Don't go uh, too crazy or anything.” Tavros stated a little awkwardly. He leaned over to Sollux to whisper in his ear.

“Don't be too loud either because other trolls might hear, uhh, be careful too...” Sollux gave his moirail a pat on the head and nodded.

“I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, I'm more concerned about KK's well being.” He snickered, and Karkat flipped him off.

“Come on Tavros, let's leave them alone already.” They left and closed the door behind them, making sure they heard the lock click.

“Aradia, that was uh, the most awkward thing I've ever had to take part in.”

“Umm, same here actually. I'm kind of happy for them though.”

“Still really embarrassing though. I hope Sollux doesn't want to have a feelings jam about this later because I, I don't know if I could do that.”

“Oh, I'm sure you could.”

They settled in a corner in the lounge and continued snacking on their tasty salted chips. Tavros had personally been trying the best he could to feel caliginous for another troll. He knew that if he didn't he would get culled the day the drones came to collect. A few sweeps ago he would have chose Vriska as his kismesis, but Terezi ended up filling that quadrant before he could even say that he disliked her.

 

Sollux lay flat on his back on the plush carpeted floor. He looked up at the man who stood above him, who appeared too nervous to kneel down on the ground with him. Karkat hesitantly lowered himself above the Gemini, who simply stared at him, baring his teeth.

“Why so nervous, KK? I thought you wanted to do this.”

“Fuck you Sollux. This is... embarrassing okay?”

“Now you say 'fuck you' but, are you really going to?”

“I-I agh! You fucking, fuck!”

“A little too flustered for proper insults now are we?”

Karkat replied with a swift bite to Sollux's neck, prompting a quiet moan to escape his lips. The Cancer placed his hands on his kismesis's chest, causing his breath to hitch in the most intoxicating of ways. Every sound Sollux made drove him mad with desire. He moved his left hand down Sollux's thin body, stopping just before the waist of his pants.

“Nngh- fuck... Karkat”


	5. Kismesis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Warning* This chapter is pretty much a sex scene! Read it if you feel comfortable doing so.

Karkat was teasing Sollux with every movement he made. The air between them became hotter and hotter, the sounds of their breath the only noise heard in the room. The Gemini squirmed underneath him, waiting for him to slide his fingers inside his pants and touch him for the first time. He could barely contain how much he wanted him. Karkat could feel the yellow-blood's body tremble under his fingertips. He decided now was a perfect time to switch tactics and try something different. He moved his hand away from the edge of Sollux's jeans and firmly planted it to the floor.

“Karkat what are you doi-”

He could feel his sharp teeth through his shirt as Karkat nibbled at one of his nipples. He couldn't stand it anymore, and lifted the shirt up over his chest so he could finally see what was underneath. Sollux wasn't very muscular, not toned in the least; his skin was soft and flushed with the mustard coloured blood that flowed through his veins. He was covered in goosebumps after his skin had been exposed to the air. Karkat leaned his head forward once more and licked at the hard little nub on his chest. Sollux was growing restless. He reached up and grabbed at Karkat's back, pressing his claws into him. The Cancer gave him a bite in return, and sat back up. He pulled his own shirt off from the bottom up over his head. Sollux examined every inch of Karkat's lean body, he could see the many faint scars that were both purposely and accidentally inflicted upon him. He could see one from a sweep ago on his side, from a play-fight that got a little too out of hand. Karkat had been relieved that it was just Sollux that ended up seeing his blood colour again, but was still resentful for having it spilled in front of him once more.

“It's getting really fucking hot in here, don't you think?”

Karkat spoke with gritted teeth. He couldn't believe how much he wanted Captor. He wanted to see his naked body sprawled underneath him, uncovered, unprotected. He wanted to see what was hiding behind the last bit of fabric covering his skin, to drag his nails ever so gently across his exposed flesh. And oh Gog he wanted to be inside him right now. He was trembling with anticipation, it felt like if he kept his clothing on for another minute he would catch on fire from how hot this was getting. It seemed like Sollux had noticed how much Karkat wanted him. He could see it in the expression on his face and the way he kept lowering and pressing himself against him. The Gemini pushed Karkat off of him and stood up.

“You really fucking want me, don't you KK?” Sollux asked promiscuously, rubbing his hands down his own body as he spoke. At this point, Karkat lost it. There was no hiding the fact now that he was harder than he had ever been in his life. Sollux continued to be a tease, touching his own hardened bone-bulge through his jeans; watching Karkat practically bite through his lip in sexual frustration.

“Is this what you do to Eridan? Is this the reason he's always clinging to you now, never wanting to let go of you?”

“I've never... done anything like this with Eridan.”

“You're kidding.”

“I'm not. We truly just pity each other a lot, Karkat. He wants to be around me so much because I make him feel less lonely. He helped me see that maybe life's a lot better when you're not spending all your time pitying or hating yourself, and instead feeling like that towards other trolls.”

“You didn't have to give me a fucking speech about it.”

“Just shut up and suck my bulge already.”

“Finally, you said something I actually wanted to hear.”

Karkat moved forwards a bit to come into contact with Sollux's bulge. Ge pressed his lips against the front of his pants, sucking ever so gently. The Gemini hurriedly unbuttoned his jeans and dropped them to the ground. His red and blue striped boxers were exposed for Karkat to see. The Cancer felt along the boxers until he found two small round buttons at the front of them.

“Now are these buttons real? Or some of those cheap ass fake ones trolls like to decorate their clothes with?”

“These are real Karkat. G-go ahead.”

With nimble fingers he had unbuttoned the front of his boxers and felt around the inside of them. The first thing he came into contact of was Sollux's warm, slightly wet bone-bulge. The thought that he had done this to Sollux made it even more exciting. He put his face back up to the hole in the boxers and gave Sollux a nervous lick.

“Aahh...”

Karkat began to take more of the length of the mustard-blood's bone-bulge into his mouth. It was a little salty and strange tasting at first, but after a while he began enjoying it. Sollux grabbed at Karkat's messy hair and began rocking his hips back and forth. The Cancer gagged a little bit, but kept going. He wanted to make his friend... his kismesis feel good. That thought started to become a little odd to him, it wasn't a feeling a kismesis was supposed to feel. In black romance sexuality, your own pleasure was more important than the pleasure of your partner. So why did he want Sollux to feel good?

==> Karkat: Stop being such a pussy.

Karkat cannot stop being a pussy, because he never was one in the first place! Was he? Wait, why am I thinking in third person omniscient perspective!? He wondered, but he would never know why. He tried to block out his thoughts again, and began trying to get all of Sollux's bulge into his mouth. No matter how much it made him gag, or how much it made his eyes water, he kept going. This is what HE wanted. It didn't matter how good he was making his kismesis feel, HE wanted to do it because it was turning HIM on. Karkat fumbled around with his own pants while still performing on Sollux, and wriggled his way out of them. He didn't take his own boxers off all the way, and instead just pulled them down his thighs enough to expose himself. He didn't care if Sollux was watching what he was doing. He just couldn't take it anymore. Slowly, he started rubbing himself to the rhythm that the mustard-blood was moving to. Sollux stared in amazement at Karkat's naked flesh; he couldn't believe that he actually started touching himself. Everything felt so good, even if his teeth did scrape against him occasionally. He felt like he was holding onto Karkat's hair a little too hard, and decided to grab onto his nubby horns instead. The Cancer's body shuddered as he gripped the base of his horns, stroking them gently with his thumbs.

“Mmmph!” Karkat's moan was muffled, but loud nonetheless.

“K-karkat I think I'm going to-”

Karkat took Sollux's bone-bulge out of his mouth and stroked it with his free hand.

“Then fucking... cum on me, okay?”

“F-fuck, why?”

“I like that sort of thing... just do it please.” He was practically begging.

“Nnngh... oh fuck!” The Gemini came to his climax, his honey-coloured genetic material covering Karkat's chest, and part of his face. Karkat licked a little bit off his lips and continued desperately touching himself.

“Haahh... Karkat, let me return the favour.” Sollux said between panting breaths. He sat down in front of Karkat, his legs a bit wobbly from his orgasm, and leaned down to where the Cancer was touching himself. He reciprocated what Karkat had done for him. He licked up and down the length of his bulge and stuck the head in his mouth. His gag reflex was a lot stronger than Karkat's, so he could only handle so much of it without accidentally losing his lunch. He slipped his tongue around the tip of his bulge, quickly licking the very end of it.

“Sollux, I can't, h-hold it in anymo-aaaahhnnng...” Karkat came abruptly in Sollux's mouth, grabbing onto the Gemini's shoulders as he did. He felt his entire body throb afterwards, and his knees became weak from his last bit of energy being sapped in a single moment of ecstatic bliss.

The two kismesis lay on the carpet together. They held each others naked body close, and shared a triumphant kiss.

“That was so fucking amazing KK.”

“Yeah... it was.”

“Is something... wrong?”

“I just don't think this is how kismesises are supposed to act.”

“Who fucking cares how they're 'supposed' to act? If we're gonna fill a fucking quadrant we might as well do it the way we like it.”

“Heh, I guess you're right.”

“...” They looked at each other in the eyes.

“I hate you.”

“I hate you too.”


	6. Passing Time and Propositions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Sorry it's taken me so long to update, school's been eating up a ton of my time!*

A week had passed since the Trolls initially left their hives on Alternia. There were only four more nights left until they would finally reach Terrenia, and they were growing more and more anxious every day. For the middle-bloods this wasn't really an issue. Terezi, Kanaya and Nepeta were all great company for each other, and spent their time drawing, chatting and sharing stories. They would even speak-role play with each other while they drew pictures to go along with it. (Terezi opted out of this because she started drawing on the table instead of the paper a little too many times. She often felt a little lonely though; her matesprit and kismesis were both on different ships than her. She missed the soft hiss of Vriska's voice, and Karkat's “super cute” tone of annoyance he almost always spoke with. Except when he was alone with her. Nepeta playfully pawed at the teal-blood's hair. 

“What's the myatter, Terezi?”

”Oh, nothing! I guess I'm just spacing out. Maybe I'm thinking a little too much about Karkles and Vrissy.”

“Don't worry Terezi! We're almost there, we're almost on Terrenia! You should be super excited!” 

“Hee hee, you're right Nepeta. The dragoness gleefully swoops down from her perch and gives the mighty lioness a tackle snuggle!'” Terezi squeezed Nepeta's soft body, and tickled her with all her might. The two of them rolled around for a bit, giggling and pawing at each other. Kanaya chuckled from the other side of the room, peering up from the book she was reading. 

“You two are too cute, any room in this rumpus party for a third member?” She said, playfully smiling. Nepeta looked up at her with her big green eyes and nodded vigorously. Kanaya placed her book down on the table and rolled to the floor to play with them. Kanaya's hair was a lot longer than it was when she was six sweeps old. It knotted slightly as she played with her friend and matesprit. She gave Nepeta a few playful kisses and nips on the neck- she was the “Rainbow Drinker” in their little role-play games. The three played for a good half hour and became a bit tuckered out, laying on their backs on the floor. Four more nights and they would be home. 

 

Vriska paced back and forth in front of her recooperacoon. Feferi wasn't back from the nutrition hall yet, and she was hungry. 

“Siiiiiiiigh, leave it to a 'princess' to take a fucking sweep just to get some simple grub-burgers.” she seethed with contempt. She knew it was probably because of an extremely long lineup, but she preferred blaming the one who was fetching it for her. Things were getting incredibly booooooooring for miss Serket; she didn't have her kismesis to mess around with, and things were going nowhere with her flush-crush. She was pretty sure he didn't even want anything to do with her. She didn't blame him though, she was kind of a huge bitch to him a sweep ago. In retrospect though, he did put a giant hole in her hive. Then again, he repaired it afterwards with many an apology. Oh well, if the time was right, she would tell him her feelings. She finally decided sitting down might be the best option, despite how restless she was feeling. Once she got a bite of one of those delicious grub-burgers (not made from actual grubs of course), she might feel better. 

The door seemed to open at the perfect time. Feferi came in holding a tray stacked with their meals. The scent of the delicious food wafted all across the room, making Vriska's hunger seem a thousand times more intense. 

“Sorry I took so long Vriska! Some glubbing moron in front of me couldn't decide on what he wanted! He drove the cafeteria drones mad... he drove me mad too!” Feferi rambled on about her nutrition hall excursion. Vriska smirked and nodded, agreeing that the other troll was kind of an idiot for not deciding what they wanted, despite being in line for so long. The girls unwrapped their burgers, Vriska tearing into hers as soon as the foil was half off of it. It was just as delicious as she thought it would be. The cooking on this ship was the only thing she would miss. The decor was nice, but she got tired of it all. It just didn't feel like home. 

Equius had been a tad bored himself, and wondered what his moirail was up to, on her separate ship. He walked down one of the many corridors on the ship. It was pretty quiet; there must not be anybody in the rooms in this hallway. Either that or they just weren't in their rooms at the moment, or sleeping. He kept walking until he found a little sitting area. There was a short bookshelf with what appeared to be a whole slew of blackrom novels, and a few “Cluckbeast Soup for the Soul” books lined up neatly in alphabetical order. It's too bad they didn't have one for the “Musclebeast Enthusiast's Soul”. He could have used a good read right about now. He skimmed through the titles of the blackrom stories, seeing if anything would stand out. Nope, nothing interesting. He sat down anyways and looked to the side where a large porthole was. They were drifting by a bright purple nebula, with stringy clouds of gas spanning millions of kilometres. Seeing things like that made even Equius feel small and insignificant. 

“Beautiful, isn't it brother?”

He hadn't even noticed that Gamzee had found him. He looked up at the highblood, who was dressed in unusual formal attire. Equius nodded in agreement and Gamzee walked over and sat next to him on the little loveseat. 

“I agree that it is quite beautiful, though it reminds me of the colour of Eridan's blood.” 

“Haha, you're right. It does look the shade of that purple motherfucker.”

“You've been spending a lot of time with him lately, highblood.”

“Yeah, what's it to ya? Jealous or something?”

“I-I uh, oh..”

“Don't worry about it man I'm just joking around.”

“Oh.”

“I just wanted to get some info on the dude's matesprit.”

“Why's that?”

“Gonna be living with him and Tav once we get off this ship.”

“Living with... the lowbloods?”

“Exactly motherfucker, it'll be great.”

“But why would you do that? You're so much higher on the hemospectrum than those gutter-bloods.”

“Hey man, don't be dissing my bros alright?”

“I... apologize.”

“I don't think you mean it.”

Gamzee was right, he didn't mean it. But he really didn't want to disagree with his superior. He fidgeted with his fingers nervously and looked at the ground. He felt Gamzee shift around on the loveseat, and looked over a bit to see him crossing his legs. 

“I'm sorry I just don't feel that it's right...”

“A highblood should be able to do what he wants.”

“I- I suppose you're right.”

“Now stop fucking talking back to me, so I can ask you something.”

“...?”

“You got any formal clothes with you?”

“I believe I do.”

“Because I'm proposing that all of our group goes down to the main deck to attend this evening's little soiree.”

“I would be delighted to.”

“Good. Now get going and get changed bro, can't be late for the party!” 

“Yes, highblood.” 

 

Sollux didn't expect to be spending every day with Karkat the way he had been since they became kismesises. They still acted like they were the best of friends, but threw even more hateful banter into their conversations; flirting in the darkest of ways. Tavros and Aradia found it somewhat amusing that their two friends bickered like this. And when Karkat particularly pissed Sollux off, Tavros was always up for a good feelings jam. They would lay on a pile of host plushies, and talk for hours on end. It was great, but somehow it felt like they weren't real kismesises. They just weren't as hostile to each other as other blackrom couples were.

“Tavbro, what do you think it would be like if you were in a blackrom relationship?”

“I uh, I honestly don't know Sollux, I've never been in a serious one.”

“Well what me and Karkat have, does it seem like a kismesis relationship to you?”

“I think so. I mean you don't have to be at each others throats all the time or anything.”

“That's true... Yeah what would be the point of getting so worked up and angry at Karkat all the time? Maybe other trolls just get to carried away with their kismesitudes.”

“That might be it! It's kind of scary that other kismesises would go so far as to almost murder each other over a struggle for dominance... it's kind of pointless too.”

“I'd never want to kill Karkat...”

“I know you wouldn't. He's been your friend since you guys were grubs. Just like me and Gamzee...”

“Yeah Tav, how are things with Gamzee anyways?”

“Good! I wish I could see him though... I hope he's okay on that ship full of all those highbloods.”

“I hope he's getting along with Eridan okay...”

“Me too, if he's gonna be living with us then uh, he'll have to get used to having Eridan around.”

“Yeah. Man, Eridan better not be picking any petty fights with the “landdwwellers” on the highblood ship.” 

“I'm sure he's fine there. Maybe him and Gamzee are getting along really good!”

“You really should ask him out you know.”

“H-hey! When the time is right! I don't even know if he's flushed for me or not.”

“I'm pretty sure he is Tav.”

“How do you know?!”

“Well... Karkat told me.”


	7. Evening Wear

Equius searched through his clothing carrier as fast as he possibly could. He had to get ready quickly, he didn't want to keep Gamzee waiting. He found his suit that fit him the best; a black ensemble with blue pinstripes, and a white button-up shirt with a neatly pressed collar that he would wear underneath it. He stripped out of his casual clothing and put on his formal wear. Tap, tap, tap. There was somebody at the door. 

“Who is it?” 

“It's just me Eq, let me in.”

“Just a second, seadweller.” 

He unlocked the door and opened it so the purple-blood could come in. He stared at what Equius was wearing and nodded.

“So Gam's got you going to the party too?”

“Yes, he wanted all of us to go so I put on my nicest suit.” 

“Looks a little borin' if you ask me. Here, let me find something to spice up that outfit. I don't want to be embarrassed to be seen with you.”

“T-thanks...”

“Don't mention it! You might want to fix your hair too, I think changing left it all frazzled.”

He turned to face the mirror on the wall and saw that his hair was indeed “frazzled”. He grabbed his brush from the table beside his recooperacoon and worked through his hair. 

“Could you turn around for a sec' Eq?” 

“Alright.”

Eridan had found a lovely blue neck-tie in his bag of many accessories, and fastened it around Equius's neck. He heard the blue-blood's breath hitch as he did so and promptly questioned: 

“What was that?”

“I'm... sorry. I get nervous when other trolls put things around my neck, I really don't know why.”

“I see. Well, you look a lot better now anyways.”

“I'm glad.”

“Now turn around or somethin' so I can get changed.”

Equius complied with Eridan's request and turned around. He could hear the rustling of clothing, and the sounds of zippers being opened and closed. It seemed like Eridan had a specific bag for everything he owned. One for shirts, one for pants, and a huge one for accessories. 

“Hey Eq, can you help me with this?” 

Eridan stepped closer to Equius who was still turned around and tapped his shoulder to get his attention. The blue-blood looked at him and what he was wearing. Eridan was clad in a pair of deep purple straight-leg pants that were fastened with a gold belt, a white long-sleeved shirt with ruffles at the sleeves, and a dark purple neckerchief that matched his pants. His fingers were covered in gold and purple rings, and his fins were adorned with golden jewelry as well- but they weren't done up properly. He reached up behind the seadweller's fins and carefully closed each of the adornments so they wouldn't fall off. It wasn't such an easy task for someone as STRONG as Equius. Over the years he had learned to better control his strength, but he still had a bit of trouble with small objects. 

“Thanks, I really appreciate it. I can nev-ver seem to get those on by myself.” 

Equius nodded and the two men turned to face the mirror on the wall. They both smiled, and Eridan gave Equius a good pat on the back. 

“W-well don't w-we look stunnin' Eq?” 

Eridan fluffed up his hair as he examined himself in the mirror, deciding it didn't have quite enough volume. Equius just kept his goofy smile on his face and laughed a little. They did look rather handsome in their formal attire. 

Feferi and Vriska were spending their time getting ready as well. The girls helped each other with their hair, and zipped up each others dresses. Vriska was actually excited to go to the party. She had heard about how wonderful they have been for past passengers of the highblood ships. After one week of travel there was always a party to entertain the trolls on their long voyage. They didn't do that for the low or middle-bloods of course; it just made her even happier to be on the high end of the hemospectrum. Feferi finished up with doing up Vriska's hair, and put an azure-jewelled clip at the back. 

“You look be-eautiful Vriska!” 

“Thanks Feferi... you do too.” 

She was a little awkward in her response, but it was true. The both of them looked fantastic- Feferi dressed in a flowing fuchsia gown, and Vriska in a spicier cobalt cocktail dress. They spent a little bit of time afterwards to get their makeup on and they were ready to go. 

“So when did Karkat tell you!?” 

“Remember when we were standing in line to get our rooms on the ship?” 

“So that's why he wanted to talk in private with you... Okay so Gamzee, Gamzee uh, he-”

“He's been flushed for you for sweeps Tavros.” 

“Oh my god. Oh my god. Oh my god.” 

Tavros formed the dorkiest smile he possibly could on his face, and kept repeating “Oh my god” until Sollux snapped him out of it. 

“Yo Tavbro, calm down. I know it's exciting but we have to think of a way to go through with this. I mean we're all going to be living together soon. And to be honest if you guys begin a matespritship you can share a room. I don't care really as long as I can have my alone time with Eridan... or Karkat when they're over.”

“Sure thing Sollux! Do you, do you have some sort of plan or what?” 

“I told you you should ask him out. Why not just do that?”

“Because I want it to be perfect...”

Sollux chuckled at his moirail and ruffled his fluffy hair. Tavros made a grunting sound and batted Sollux's arm away and laughed as well. He did want it to be perfect though. He never knew that Gamzee felt that way about him. Should he get him something special from the ship gift shop? Did he have enough money to do so? Maybe, just maybe. 

“What if Gamzee asks you out though? That's always a thing that can happen.” 

“That's true.. uhmm, when do you think he would?”

“I don't know Tav, when the time is right I guethh” 

Sollux's lisp really slipped out on the last word he spoke- causing him and Tavros to erupt in laughter. 

The middle-blood girls were sharing their fair bit of laughter as they acted out their own comedy routines for each other. Kanaya suggested they do it to pass the time, and it was a hit with them. Terezi stood in front of them talking to one of her Scalemates that sat on a chair across the room. Her routine was about the rambunctious Scalemate Peppersnout, who tried to rob a bank. Terezi played the role of a Legislacerator who caught him in his shenanigans. 

“So Peppersnout, you tried to rob the bank with... this!?” 

She pulls out an unpeeled banana from her back pocket and shakes it in the direction of the plush toy. 

“But your Legislaciness, it doesn't seem as crazy as it does! The security guard is allergic to bananas.” 

“Oh but how unfortunate for you that I was bringing in my pay cheque today!” 

The girls snickered as Terezi gave the Scalemate a high pitched voice, and basically talked back and forth to herself. The debate between her and Peppersnout became more intense until she jumped on the chair and grabbed the plush, squeezing it so it squeaked a mournful cry. 

“You're comin' in with me, punk.” 

And with that she bowed and her friends clapped for her. They were happy to have made their night so enjoyable, with such a simple idea.


	8. Festivities - Part 1

Equius had been thinking about his previous conversation with Eridan, and how he had only stuttered towards the end of it. Was he trying to hold it back? If so, why? What would be the point of trying to eliminate his stutter in front of him? Or was he trying to hold it back in general... He already had a matesprit. Maybe he was just over-analyzing things as usual. Then again, it was probably because of the way he talked to Eridan, always calling him a “Seadweller,” not “Highblood,” like how he referred to Gamzee. Again, maybe he was just over-analyzing things. 

“Are you excited for this Eq?” Eridan asked the blue-blood, who was lost in his thoughts. He quickly snapped out of it and replied to him.

“Oh, uh, yes Seadwe-... Highblood.” 

“Highblood? Finally startin' to respect me huh?”

“I guess.” 

“You guess? Ah, w-whatev-ver then, anyw-ways look, there's V-vris. She's lookin' pretty fine tonight Eq, don't you think?”

“I guess.” 

“You're ridiculous you know-w that?” 

“I'm just joking around Eridan,” He laughed a little awkwardly and smiled his broken smile. Eridan gave a small chuckle as well, and the two walked over to where Vriska and Feferi were standing. The doors to the ballroom were not open yet, and several trolls had congregated in the many seating areas in the lobby. Vriska put her hands on her hips and slapped her smug “I'm so much better than you” grin on her face. She could see her male friends approaching, and they looked stunning. Especially Equius. Vriska felt her face become a little hot, so she decided to start a conversation with the seadwellers instead. 

“So, my fishy friends, how do you expect this party to turn out?”Vriska smirked at the seadwellers. Eridan grinned back at her and crossed his arms. 

“It'll turn out as w-well as you make it to be, V-vrissy.” Eridan replied to her as cocky as ever. She scoffed at his remark and kept her hands tightly gripped to her sides. 

“Don't even try it, Ampora. You know as well as I do that Terezi and I are an item.” 

“Okay.” Eridan sighed and looked back at Equius, who was chatting it up with Feferi. He started to think that finding Gamzee would be a pretty good idea. At least he could talk to him. But where the hell was he? Eridan scanned the room and identified his horns, which poked through a crowd of purple. He was standing with a bunch of other seadwellers. 

“Oh Cod, oh Cod, oh Cod,” Eridan silently pleaded his friend wasn't making a fool of himself in front of them. He walked quickly over to the group and nudged Gamzee's shoulder. 

“Hey Eridan! Glad you're here. Look who I found! A whole bunch of you oceanic motherfuckers.” 

“G-Gamzee please... Don't call them that.” 

The other seadwellers were staring at him. Oh great. And... Oh no. He knew these guys. Maybe it's not too late to esca-

“Well well well, look who we have here. If it isn't little Ampora!”

“Hey, I'm not little anymore. I'm fuckin' taller than all of you.” He looked frantically at Gamzee, trying to signal for them to leave. He was too busy fiddling with the buttons on his vest. 

“Well knowing your luck, your bulge is probably the same si-”

“W-would you just shut the FUCK up?” Now he was getting angry. He hasn't seen these guys in sweeps, and all they want to do is rip on him. He had no patience for it anymore. 

“Whoa Ampora, since when were you this feisty?” 

“Since you shov-ved your fist inside your Lusus's asshole.” A few of the other seadwellers whooped at the one Eridan gave a sick burn to. He promptly punched Eridan in the stomach and stormed off. He doubled over in pain. Gamzee held him up so he wouldn't collapse to the ground and watched the one who hurt Eridan slip away into the men's washroom. He had the right mind to go beat him to a pulp, but he would probably be culled for doing such a thing on the ship. Instead, he continued to comfort Eridan. The other seadwellers apologized for the way their friend was acting. 

“Eridan, where do you know that crazy asshole from?” Gamzee enquired; there must have been a reason for getting into a fight with him so quickly. 

“A sw-weep ago his hiv-ve got demolished by a rampaging lusus, so lucky for me he set up a new temporary one next to mine! Every time he talked to me he w-would alw-ways insult me. I don't know-w w-what his issue is, but I know-w that I'm sick of it.” 

Hearing Eridan explain how he knew the other troll made Gamzee's desire to kick some major ass increase ten-fold. But, before he could act upon that rage, the doors to the ballroom opened and an announcement played over the ship's intercom.

“Greetings passengers! This is the captain speaking, to welcome you to the ship's annual Spacebound Interstellar Extravaganza! Please wait to be seated by one of the Server Drones at a table- with seating from 2 trolls, to 8. This event is free, and those who are wearing the correct attire for the occasion will be seated first. Thank you and enjoy your night everyone!” 

The intercom was silenced, and Gamzee and Eridan ran back over to where the rest of their friends were, so they could get a table together. They were second in line, so it was necessary that they were fast. Eridan ran right into Equius, who didn't even budge from where he was standing. Instead, he prevented Eridan from falling on his face. The Server Drone motioned for them to come up to the door.

“How many of you will I be seating tonight?” It asked Vriska, who turned around to count everyone in their group. 

“Five of us, please,” She said, smiling.


End file.
